Tag: chat

Google plans to kill chat app Allo by the middle of next year, the company said in a blog post, confirming a report earlier on Wednesday about the product’s imminent demise. Despite owning the world’s dominant smartphone operating system in Android, Google has never been able to create a chat experience to rival Apple’s iMessage or Facebook’s Messenger and WhatsApp. Meanwhile, Google will focus fully on the development of Messages, its other chat app for Android phones. That initiative was the b

Google plans to kill chat app Allo by the middle of next year, the company said in a blog post, confirming a report earlier on Wednesday about the product’s imminent demise. Despite owning the world’s dominant smartphone operating system in Android, Google has never been able to create a chat experience to rival Apple’s iMessage or Facebook’s Messenger and WhatsApp. Meanwhile, Google will focus fully on the development of Messages, its other chat app for Android phones. That initiative was the bGoogle shutting down Allo Cached Page below :Company: cnbc, Activity: cnbc, Date: 2018-12-06 Authors: jillian donfro, stephen lamKeywords: news, cnbc, companies, social, yeargoogle, google, products, earlier, android, allo, apps, users, chat, shutting, work

Google plans to kill chat app Allo by the middle of next year, the company said in a blog post, confirming a report earlier on Wednesday about the product’s imminent demise.

Despite owning the world’s dominant smartphone operating system in Android, Google has never been able to create a chat experience to rival Apple’s iMessage or Facebook’s Messenger and WhatsApp.

Allo, which launched two years ago to much fanfare, will only work until March 2019, at which point users will have to download any conversations they want to save. Meanwhile, Google will focus fully on the development of Messages, its other chat app for Android phones. Earlier this year, Google announced that it was working with mobile carriers on a new Rich Communication Services (RCS) standard, an upgrade to classic SMS texting, to make messaging work better across Android devices, and bring users features like read receipts and seamless group chats.

That initiative was the beginning of the end for Allo, which saw its product lead defect to Facebook earlier this year.

Google also said in its blog post that it plans to support another one of its chat apps, Hangouts, until it makes two of its enterprise apps, Hangouts Chat and Meet, available for non-paying users.

A Google employee tweeted earlier on Thursday that Meet and Chat would launch for regular consumers next year:

Google has long had a complicated, messy strategy when it comes to chat apps, and has axed a laundry list of communication products, including the original GChat, the social network Buzz, and the collaboration tool Wave. Earlier this year, it announced it was shutting down its social network Google Plus after it discovered a security bug that left private profile data exposed.

If your family is like mine, chances are you might find yourselves split up over the holidays. Normally, you might video chat with individual families or people separately, but, now you can Group FaceTime with (almost) everyone at once. In its latest iOS 12.1 update, Apple included Group FaceTime and the ability for up to 32 people to video chat at the same time on iPhone or iPad. Keep in mind that this only works for devices that support FaceTime, so Android users won’t be able to join. Here’s

If your family is like mine, chances are you might find yourselves split up over the holidays. Normally, you might video chat with individual families or people separately, but, now you can Group FaceTime with (almost) everyone at once. In its latest iOS 12.1 update, Apple included Group FaceTime and the ability for up to 32 people to video chat at the same time on iPhone or iPad. Keep in mind that this only works for devices that support FaceTime, so Android users won’t be able to join. Here’sHow to use Group FaceTime on iPhone, iPad Cached Page below :Company: cnbc, Activity: cnbc, Date: 2018-11-20 Authors: todd haseltonKeywords: news, cnbc, companies, group, video, worry, family, wont, iphone, ipad, facetime, works, chat

If your family is like mine, chances are you might find yourselves split up over the holidays. Some folks are on one coast and maybe some family members are traveling out of the country. Normally, you might video chat with individual families or people separately, but, now you can Group FaceTime with (almost) everyone at once.

In its latest iOS 12.1 update, Apple included Group FaceTime and the ability for up to 32 people to video chat at the same time on iPhone or iPad. The person who is talking becomes the largest on the screen, but you can still see everyone. There are even fun visual effects you can add to spice up the conversation.

Keep in mind that this only works for devices that support FaceTime, so Android users won’t be able to join. But I like FaceTime because it lets you use someone’s regular phone number to place a call, so you don’t have to worry about them being logged into a service like Skype.

He’s the elder statesman of the founding team, which includes Zayd Enam and Tim Shi, who are both in their late 20s. Cresta’s artificial intelligence-powered system is designed to help automate mundane office jobs, allowing users to get work done more efficiently. “If we train AI to take over boring repetitive tasks, we can free humanity and reach new heights,” Thrun told CNBC. Enam, Cresta’s CEO, describes an unusual situation that he counts as a sign of the success. The image of an employee wo

Sebastian Thrun, one of the best known entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, is taking on a new challenge that’s a big shift from his work in autonomous transportation or online education:

He’s working to automate sales chats.

Thrun, who founded Google’s research lab X and its autonomous car project, education start-up Udacity, and electric aircraft company KittyHawk, is a co-founder and chairman of a stealthy enterprise company called Cresta AI. He’s the elder statesman of the founding team, which includes Zayd Enam and Tim Shi, who are both in their late 20s.

Cresta’s artificial intelligence-powered system is designed to help automate mundane office jobs, allowing users to get work done more efficiently.

“If we train AI to take over boring repetitive tasks, we can free humanity and reach new heights,” Thrun told CNBC.

Enam, Cresta’s CEO, describes an unusual situation that he counts as a sign of the success.

A sales representative using Cresta’s product recently told him that she got a sudden nosebleed while on the clock sending chat messages to customers, but was able to continue her work unimpeded. While ebbing the bleeding with one hand, she could click Cresta’s conversational suggestions with the other.

The image of an employee working through the loss of vital fluids may seem bleak, but Enam says it illustrates the product’s value. Just imagine all the other types of distractions you may need to work through or the mundane tasks that could be breezed through faster. The Cresta system finds patterns from successful experiences and serves employees chat recommendations based on all that data.

“We want to build artificial intelligence that makes people experts on the first day of their job,” Enam said. “Ultimately we help sales agents make more money. They’re having more effective conversations and they’re having more of them.”

The company currently works with three chat centers across the country.

When Apple rolls out its next major iPhone and iPad update this fall, iOS 12, it will not include group FaceTime video chat, the company said. Apple initially discussed group FaceTime during WWDC in June, where it detailed all of the new features coming to iOS 12. Group FaceTime allows up to 32 people to video chat at the same time. Group FaceTime was one of the few major feature updates in iOS 12, which was otherwise devoted to incremental nuts-and-bolts updates such as faster performance. Appl

When Apple rolls out its next major iPhone and iPad update this fall, iOS 12, it will not include group FaceTime video chat, the company said.

Apple initially discussed group FaceTime during WWDC in June, where it detailed all of the new features coming to iOS 12. Group FaceTime allows up to 32 people to video chat at the same time. It also includes support for Apple’s Animoji, so users can chat with different digital masks on their faces.

Group FaceTime was one of the few major feature updates in iOS 12, which was otherwise devoted to incremental nuts-and-bolts updates such as faster performance.

While it has been available to test in some of the earlier development versions of the software, Apple has apparently decided it isn’t ready for everyone to use.

A similar situation occurred when Apple first announced AirPlay 2, Apple’s new wireless streaming technology. AirPlay 2 was supposed to launch in last year’s iOS 11 but didn’t launch until June of this year.

“Group FaceTime has been removed from the initial release of iOS 12 and will ship in a future software update later this fall,” Apple said in its latest developer release of the software.

Apple typically launches the new versions of iOS in September in tandem with the introduction of new iPhone models.

Facebook’s chat service WhatsApp is adding more ways for companies to communicate with customers, and opening up a new way for the parent company to cash in. While WhatsApp doesn’t have advertising outright, it is increasing functionality for businesses on its platform called WhatsApp Business. An update Wednesday to WhatsApp Business will allow companies to send information to customers through the app. Companies can also add a link to their WhatsApp chat on their website or pay Facebook to pro

Facebook’s chat service WhatsApp is adding more ways for companies to communicate with customers, and opening up a new way for the parent company to cash in.

While WhatsApp doesn’t have advertising outright, it is increasing functionality for businesses on its platform called WhatsApp Business. An update Wednesday to WhatsApp Business will allow companies to send information to customers through the app. Companies can also add a link to their WhatsApp chat on their website or pay Facebook to promote the chats in an ad.

Companies can use the WhatsApp chat feature for free, as long as they respond to a customer’s message within 24 hours. Otherwise, the company has to pay a fee to WhatsApp. It charges a fixed rate per country, ranging from about half a cent to 9 cents per message, according to a WhatsApp spokesperson.

Facebook’s move is its latest attempt to monetize the other apps in its portfolio, like WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram. Facebook said last week that 2.5 billion people use its family of apps each month.

During a call with analysts for its second-quarter earnings report, Facebook projected lower revenue growth and operating margin growth.

But it still could have room to grow with its other apps, including WhatsApp. Allowing people to click a Facebook ad to get to a WhatsApp Business chat could encourage more businesses to buy more advertising. Charging for customer service messages may provide an additional revenue stream. The company has also added similar customer service and other ad opportunities on Messenger to attract businesses.

Jim Cramer’s take on his chat with Larry Kudlow2 Hours AgoCNBC’s Jim Cramer joins Sara Eisen and Wilfred Frost to discuss his interview with National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow at the Delivering Alpha conference.

Microsoft announced on Thursday a free version of its Teams app, stepping up competition with chat service Slack. Until now, Microsoft only provided Teams to clients that pay for Office 365 and its portfolio of subscription productivity apps. The free tier is limited to 300 users. Microsoft doesn’t view the free service as a lightweight version of the paid offering, as is the case with Slack. It will also let users make group video and voice calls, while Slack’s free tier only enables calls betw

Microsoft announced on Thursday a free version of its Teams app, stepping up competition with chat service Slack.

Until now, Microsoft only provided Teams to clients that pay for Office 365 and its portfolio of subscription productivity apps. Slack has offered both free and premium options since its public launch in 2014.

In promoting a free service, Microsoft may be leaving money on the table in the short term, but the company is betting that it will lure customers who will eventually be drawn to pay for Office as they grow and need more services and professional support. The free tier is limited to 300 users.

Slack isn’t the only competitor in the space. Last year Google introduced a Slack rival called Hangouts Chat as part of its G Suite bundle, less than six months after Microsoft unveiled Teams. Facebook also offers a chat app for work.

With all of those options, an easy and free on ramp has become that much more important.

“We wanted to remove all barriers to entry for all business, individuals and work settings to be able to use it,” said Lori Wright, general manager for Office 365 collaboration apps, in an interview. “I suspect that people will find ways to use the software in all aspects of their lives, whether personal or for work, but our design lens is for work.”

Microsoft doesn’t view the free service as a lightweight version of the paid offering, as is the case with Slack. It’s including availability in more languages and offering increased storage space, messaging search features and more integrations of third-party tools. It will also let users make group video and voice calls, while Slack’s free tier only enables calls between two people at a time.

Apple’s big new software update that will roll out to iPhones and iPads this fall — iOS 12 — includes a new group FaceTime feature. That means you’ll be able to start a group video chat with up to 32 people on a single FaceTime call. You’ll need to install the iOS 12 public preview to try this for yourself now. Otherwise you’ll need to wait until the fall, when Apple rolls out the iOS 12 update to everyone. Starting a group FaceTime chat is really simple.

Apple’s big new software update that will roll out to iPhones and iPads this fall — iOS 12 — includes a new group FaceTime feature. That means you’ll be able to start a group video chat with up to 32 people on a single FaceTime call.

You’ll need to install the iOS 12 public preview to try this for yourself now. Otherwise you’ll need to wait until the fall, when Apple rolls out the iOS 12 update to everyone.

Snap rolled out a new feature this week that finally lets you delete Snapchat messages you’ve sent to other users. Previously, text messages sent to your contacts on Snapchat remained in the message log until both parties viewed the chat or unless they sat unopened for 30 days. In group chats, the messages deleted after 24 hours. To delete the message, tap the message and hold it. They will, however, see a notice that you’ve deleted a line of text.

Snap rolled out a new feature this week that finally lets you delete Snapchat messages you’ve sent to other users.

Previously, text messages sent to your contacts on Snapchat remained in the message log until both parties viewed the chat or unless they sat unopened for 30 days. In group chats, the messages deleted after 24 hours. There was also an option to clear an entire conversation, but not a single message.

Now you can delete a message even before it’s viewed, which is useful if you sent one by mistake or have regrets about what you sent. Here’s what you do:

Open Snapchat

Swipe right across the screen to visit the Friends page.

Choose the Chat column. You’ll see a list of all of the ongoing chats you have.

Send a new message or select a message you already sent.

To delete the message, tap the message and hold it.

Select “Delete.”

Now the message is deleted, which means users in the one-on-one chat or in a group chat won’t be able to see what you sent. They will, however, see a notice that you’ve deleted a line of text.

Snap says that it attempts to “remove the message from [Snapchat’s] servers and friends’ devices,” but warns that “this might not always work, like if someone has a bad internet connection or an old version of Snapchat.”

It’s a decent privacy mechanism and seems to meet with some GDPR rules that give users more control of their data — at least if you want something completely off of Snapchat’s logs and don’t want anyone to see it — but it might not always be failsafe.

Facebook-owned Whatsapp has added some new features for group chats to its platform. The new features arrive at a time when competition among online messaging services is rising, with rivals like Telegram and WeChat gaining huge popularity. Here are some of the features being rolled out by the messaging app and what they allow you to do.